About a Half

I'm having a hard time finding time to workout balancing work/commute/family, but I managed to get in a decent 8.5 mile run on Thursday. It seemed like I was going slow, but I have to remember that the runs that start and end at my house have steep hills. I'm sure there are studies on this, but to me it seems like going up a steep hill taks about 30% more effort and going down only gives you back about 15%.

This might be paying dividends, for the run today, I chose to run about a half-marathon (13.1 miles).
A typical training plan varies long run lengths each week, building toward the race. (for example, my weekly long runs have been about 10.5, 10.5, 7, 12, 15, 10, 18, 13)  

Lexington on the rail trail bikeway has long steady, only slightly up and downgrades. (There were however several ice patches that required careful stepping) Overall, the run felt good, with the ability to take longer strides when I felt the need to change it up.

And that's the idea: Run 15, so the next week's 10 miles seems easy; run 18, so the next week's 13 seems easy.